{"id":180859,"date":"2026-03-25T13:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:56:25","slug":"france-welcomes-release-of-250-dissidents-in-belarus-calls-for-end-of-reprisals","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/","title":{"rendered":"France welcomes release of 250 dissidents in Belarus, calls for end of reprisals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay.jpg 600w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay-178x118.jpg 178w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(pixabay.com)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>March 25, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>France has welcomed the liberation of 250 designated political prisoners in Belarus on March 19, calling it the largest release since Belarus began the process in July 2024 with Washington&#8217;s mediation, says a statement by the French foreign ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paris urged Minsk to \u201cmaintain and accelerate this momentum&#8221; and to stop handing down convictions and prison sentences for political reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>France also called on Belarus to let all released prisoners stay in the country and return if they wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 19, Minsk released 250 jailed regime critics, the largest group since its engagement with Washington. Previous pardons after talks with the US diplomats usually led to former prisoners being taken out of Belarus. However, this time, as many as 235 stayed in Belarus, while 15 were taken to Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those freed on March 19 include human rights defenders Marfa Rabkova, Nasta \u0141ojka and Valancin Stefanovi\u010d; journalist Kaciaryna Bachva\u0142ava (Andrejeva) and blogger Eduard Pal\u010dys, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kaja Kallas, the European Union\u2019s foreign affairs chief, praised the release as &#8220;a welcome and tangible step forward.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The number of designated political prisoners in Belarus has dropped below 900 for the first time since 2022, the Viasna Human Rights Center said, yet noted that politically-motivated persecution has not stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/koul-tertel-usa-belta-19-03.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Washington to lift 80 percent of sanctions if Minsk frees all dissidents \u2013 Coale<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">March 20, Pozirk. If Minsk releases all designated political prisoners by the end of 2026, the United States will lift 80 percent of its sanctions against Belarus, John Coale, US special envoy for Belarus, told Reuters. These 80 percent of &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/180305\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 25, Pozirk. France has welcomed the liberation of 250 designated political prisoners in Belarus on March 19, calling it the largest release since Belarus began the process in July 2024 with Washington&#8217;s mediation, says a statement by the French foreign ministry. Paris urged Minsk to \u201cmaintain and accelerate this momentum&#8221; and to stop handing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":94450,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-180859","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>France welcomes release of 250 dissidents in Belarus, calls for end of reprisals | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 25, Pozirk. France has welcomed the liberation of 250 designated political prisoners in Belarus on March 19, calling it the largest release since\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France welcomes release of 250 dissidents in Belarus, calls for end of reprisals | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 25, Pozirk. France has welcomed the liberation of 250 designated political prisoners in Belarus on March 19, calling it the largest release since\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-25T10:56:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\"},\"headline\":\"France welcomes release of 250 dissidents in Belarus, calls for end of reprisals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-25T10:56:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-25T10:56:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\"},\"wordCount\":214,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/\",\"name\":\"France welcomes release of 250 dissidents in Belarus, calls for end of reprisals | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/180859\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/france_pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-25T10:56:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-25T10:56:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"March 25, Pozirk. 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